Automobile sunroof deflector assembly

ABSTRACT

A deflector assembly for an automobile sunroof ( 60 ) has an elongate acrylic visor ( 40 ) for, deflecting air from the sunroof and, a pedestal ( 150   a ) mountable to each end of the visor to form the deflector assembly. Each of the pedestals is secured onto the automobile, such as with a clip ( 155 ) and fastener ( 156 ) arrangement, to removably retain the visor adjacent the sunroof. Gaskets ( 48, 49 ) are provided as a buffer between the deflector assembly and the automobile&#39;s roof, and an inert material ( 48   a ) is placed adjacent the visor to avoid adverse reaction with the gasket material ( 48   b ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to air deflectors in general, and inparticular to air deflectors for use with automobile sunroofs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-3 show currently popular forms of automobile sunroof air, orwind, deflectors. In the version shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the deflectorhas a visor element 20 vacuum formed from a single sheet of acrylic. Thevisor has: a gently sloping, generally planar top portion 22 thatextends over a front part of the sunroof opening 12 on the automobile'sroof 10; a front portion or edge 24 for location on the roof immediatelyin front of the opening, and which extends longitudinally slightlybeyond the width of the opening 12; and, upstanding side portions 26extending transversely to the rear of the front portion 24 closing eachend of the visor. The top, front and side portions all meet at an elbowor corner 28 of the visor. The visor is retained on the roof by a screw30 and bracket 32 arrangement near each corner 28. The bracket has ahook 33 at one end for engaging beneath a flange 14 along the perimeterof the opening, and the screw 30 extends through a hole 21 near thecorner of the visor to engage the bracket and thereby clamp the visor tothe roof. A gasket 34 is typically adhered along the visor's perimeterwith the aim of preventing damage to the roof's painted exteriorsurface.

In an alternate arrangement shown in FIG. 3 a two-sided tape 36 may beused along the perimeter of the visor for mounting to the roof, eitherwith or without the previously described screw and bracket arrangement.

The above prior art arrangements suffer from several disadvantages:

-   the adhesives for the gaskets may react with the acrylic deflectors    and result in “crazing” and/or discoloration of the visor;-   plasticizers in the flexible gaskets also adversely chemically    attack the acrylic material of the deflectors;-   the exposed fasteners result is visual clutter and pose corrosion    problems;-   the corners of the visor are put under tension by the pull of the    brackets to ensure that the gasket is compressed on the roof, but    this causes stress concentrations and possible cracks at the holes,    and predisposes the visor to material fatigue;-   temperature fluctuations cause material stresses which result in    buckling and warping of the visor;-   the vacuum forming process for the visor is quite complicated,    expensive and delicate due to the difficulty in forming the corners    28, and imparts undue localized stresses at such corners; and,-   the prior art products are labour intensive to manufacture (e.g. the    edge finishing) and to install because the nuts are difficult to    reach and the location of the screws lead to a large percentage of    discarded product when visors are scratched during screw    installation.

What is therefore desired is a novel air deflector arrangement whichovercomes the limitations and disadvantages of the existing products.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In one aspect the invention provides a deflector assembly for anautomobile sunroof comprising:

a generally elongate visor member for deflecting air having opposed endportions;

a pedestal member mountable to each of said end portions to form saiddeflector assembly; and,

means for securing each of said pedestals onto said automobile toremovably retain said visor member adjacent said sunroof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1 to 3 show prior art air deflectors;

FIG. 4 a is an exploded perspective view of a automobile sunroofdeflector assembly according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 b is a detailed perspective view showing the pedestal of FIG. 4 amounted to an automobile roof adjacent the sunroof opening;

FIG. 4 c shows a preferred variant of the FIG. 4 a embodiment in a moredetailed exploded perspective view of the left side;

FIGS. 5 a to 5 e are cross-section side and end views of an alternateembodiment of the mounting system of the present invention;

FIG. 6 to 8 are exploded perspective views of alternate embodiments ofthe automobile sunroof deflector assembly of the present invention; and,

FIG. 9 a is a front perspective view from above and FIG. 9 b is a sideview of the sunroof deflector assembly of the present invention mountedto the front end of an automobile's sunroof.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

It is noted that the terms “front” or “forward”, “rear” or “backward”,“upper”, “lower” and the like may be used for identifying certainfeatures of the present invention relative to the vehicle when placed onthe roof of the vehicle. The use of these terms is not intended to limitthe invention's use or orientation. Further, when describing theinvention, all terms not defined herein have their common art-recognizedmeaning.

Referring first to FIGS. 4 a and 4 b, a first embodiment of the presentinvention has a central or main visor 40, also referred to herein as anair deflector “blade”, made of a sheet of acrylic or other suitablematerial. The blade is generally planar but bowed slightly downwardlytoward the front or leading longitudinal edge 42, and may be bowedupwardly along some or all of the back edge 41 (as shown more clearly inthe FIG. 4 c embodiment) as desired for enhanced air deflection. Theblade 40 omits the problematic corners of the prior art visors asdiscussed earlier. Rather, the present air deflector arrangementprovides first and second, or left and right (as viewed in FIG. 4 a),end pieces or “pedestals” 50 a and 50 b, respectively, which are adaptedto receive respective lateral edges 43 of the blade into a complimentaryshaped elongate slot 52 in each pedestal. The pedestals are formed ofplastic or other suitable material (preferably an opaque material) by arelatively simple injection molding or like suitable inexpensiveprocess. The visible surface of the pedestals may be made into virtuallyany desired shape for visual appeal.

A barrier strip 44 of inert material (such as a suitable rigid PVCextrusion) is placed along the leading edge 42 of the blade prior toplacing relatively flexible gaskets 46 a and 46 b along the blade'sleading edge (underneath the barrier strip) and the lower roof-engagingedges 53 of the pedestals, respectively. Thus, the sensitive acrylic ofthe blade remains out of contact with the harmful elements of thegaskets, whereas the plastic material of the pedestals is not impactedby the gaskets. Hence, the gaskets may be made of an industry standardmaterial for automotive door gaskets, such as SANTOPRENE.

Once the deflector is assembled by mounting the pedestals onto the endsof the blade, and the barrier strip and gaskets are mounted underneaththe blade and pedestals, the deflector assembly is then installed on thevehicle's roof 61 adjacent the front end of the sunroof opening 60.Mounting of the assembly to the roof is achieved by snugly clipping oneor more J-shaped brackets 54 under a perimeter flange 62 of the opening,and attaching the other end of the bracket to a corresponding end piece50 via aperture 58 and fastener 56. Once both pedestals 50 a and 50 bare secured to the sunroof opening in this manner, the mounting iscomplete. It will be appreciated that an alternate, but not preferred,mounting sequence would be to first fix one pedestal to the roof, thenslide one edge of the blade into the fixed pedestal, and then, with theother pedestal registered with the other edge of the blade, complete theassembly by fixing the latter pedestal to the roof.

An advantage of such arrangement is the relative ease of mounting thebrackets 54 and access to the screws with a screw driver. Further,should a screw driver slip, it will likely impact the pedestal and notthe visor, thus avoiding replacement of the deflector assembly. Anotheradvantage is that there is no exposed screw exterior of the deflector,which is visually desirable and allows for use of relatively lessexpensive screws. Yet another advantage of such arrangement is that theslots 52 in the pedestals allow for the visor to freely expand (as thereshould be some give of the visor edge in the longitudinal and/ortransverse directions within the pedestal slot) due to temperatureeffects, thus avoiding unnecessary stresses in the visor that lead towarping and buckling.

FIG. 4 c shows a preferred variant of the above first embodiment. Foreach of the variants and embodiments disclosed herein the same referencenumerals are used for the same or substantially similar components. Inthe instant variant, the barrier strip 44 and gasket 46 a are in essencecombined into one integral blade gasket 48 having an upper channelmember 48 a for mounting along the length of the blade's leading edge42, and a lower portion 48 b with splayed legs for abutting the roofspainted exterior surface ahead of the sunroof opening. The material ofthe upper channel 48 a (which is identical or similar to that of theearlier-noted barrier strip 44) is co-extruded with the material of thelower portion 48 b (which is identical or similar to that of theearlier-noted gasket 46 a), and thus provides an easier-to-handle onepiece gasket of reduced size which maintains sealing contact with theroof and is chemically compatible with the visor. It is noted that thepedestal gaskets 49 are keyed at 49 a to provide a secure and correctalignment with the base of pedestal 150 a.

Another significant feature in FIG. 4 c is the mounting bracket 154 tobe used in place of the bracket 54. The bracket 154 has two spaceddowels or barbs 155 protruding from a back face thereof for engagingcorresponding vertically oriented grooves 151 on an inner surface of thepedestal 150 a wherein each groove has a plurality of teeth (much likethe teeth on a gear) along a lower portion thereof. The lower j-shapedend of the bracket 154 forms a lip 157 for engaging the perimeter flange62 of the sunroof opening. The bracket 154 is preferably made of aplastic or other non-metallic material to avoid metal-on-metal contactwith the roof. In use, the dowels 155 are aligned with the lower end ofcorresponding pedestal grooves 151 and are pushed thereinto until thebracket 154 snaps into the pedestal. A user should stop pushing after afirst audible “click” sound (made by the barbs passing over the teeth)to leave the bracket at maximum extension below the pedestal tofacilitate installation onto the sunroof opening. Once the othercomponents of the deflector are assembled together in a similar manneras noted earlier and positioned on the roof adjacent the front edge ofthe open sunroof, the user should hold the pedestal 150 a with one hand(preferably from inside the vehicle), while using the other hand toslide the bracket 154 further (i.e. upward) along the grooves 151 untilthe lip 157 is fully seated onto the edge of the sunroof's flange 62.The fastener 155 is then inserted through a hole in the bracket and toengage a corresponding oblong hole 159 in the pedestal, thus fixing thepedestal to the roof. The inner periphery of the hole 159 is inwardlytapered to help guide the fastener 156 into proper engagement with thepedestal.

In another embodiment of the mounting system of the present inventionshown in FIGS. 5 a to 5 e, a clip 254 has a lower hook portion 257 andan upper portion fixed to or formed integrally with an interior portionof the pedestal 250 to avoid the need for a fastener as in the aboveembodiment. The pedestal is mounted to the roof by simply lowering thepedestal onto the roof adjacent a location where the perimeter flange 62has an end cut 63 (FIG. 5 b), and then sliding the pedestal rearwardlyuntil the hook portion 257 slides onto and engages with a deeper portion64 of the flange (FIGS. 5 c & 5 e). Thus use of tools such asscrewdrivers is avoided, minimizing installation time and resultantlabour costs in car assembly plants or the like.

Further alternate embodiments of the deflector assembly are show inFIGS. 6 to 8. In the FIG. 6 embodiment the visor may be split into two(or more) portions 40 a and 40 b and a plastic middle piece 70 a isinserted therebetween for visual appeal or other reasons. Various stylesan widths of middle pieces (70 b or 70 c for example) may be used. Thisarrangement allowing for the mounting of the assembly to different sizedsunroof openings without changing the visor pieces 40 a, 40 b.

In the FIG. 7 embodiment the visor 340 may be mounted to the pedestals350 a and 350 b using an exterior screw arrangement as shown, namely bypassing one or more screws 380 through holes 382 near the edges of thevisor and engaging aligned apertures 384 in the pedestal. To avoid theuse of such screws, the FIG. 8 embodiment provides a pedestal (forinstance pedestal 450 b) with a base 453 having a recessed lip 451 forreceiving a transverse edge 43 of the visor 40. The visor is held inplace by a cap 452 which snaps onto the base 453 or is fixed thereto byfasteners or equivalent means.

FIGS. 9 a and 9 b show the preferred embodiment of the assembly of thepresent invention mounted on a roof 61 of a vehicle adjacent its sunroof60.

Some of the many advantages or the present invention may now beappreciated:

-   no post-forming trimming should be needed due to simpler forming of    visor, and so all edge work is done prior to forming;-   only simple tooling should be needed to use and produce the    deflector;-   hardware and pedestal (i.e. end piece) assembly is provided for    universal fit onto vehicles;-   adhesives should not be required to hold the components together;-   contact of the plasticized flexible gasket with the visor is    eliminated;-   components allow for smaller packaging, and thus should provide cost    saving and environmental benefits;-   holes in the visor should be avoided (except for FIG. 7 embodiment);-   tension in the visor should be avoided due to simple shape and fit    with end pieces;-   the deflector should allow easy assembly and installation;-   pedestals may be designed to complement vehicle roof detailing and    may be modified to suit particular requirements; and,-   a variety of material choices is available, particularly for    pedestals.

The above description is intended in an illustrative rather than arestrictive sense, and variations to the specific configurationsdescribed may be apparent to skilled persons in adapting the presentinvention to other specific applications. Such variations are intendedto form part of the present invention insofar as they are within thespirit and scope of the claims below. For instance, in a yet furthervariant, the gaskets may be integrally formed with the visor and/or thepedestals, or the grooves may be provided along the lower edges of thevisor and/or pedestals for receiving a gasket-like member therein.Further, the visor and/or pedestals may be formed of suitable materialwhich does not damage the automobile's roof, and hence eliminates theneed for gaskets altogether.

1. An air deflector assembly for a sunroof opening in an automobile roofcomprising: a generally elongate central visor having opposed lateraledges; a pedestal mountable to each of said lateral edges to support thevisor on the roof; means for securing each pedestal to said roof toremovably retain said pedestals and visor adjacent said sunroof opening;and flexible gaskets for location beneath each of said pedestals and aleading edge of said visor, wherein said gasket for said visor comprisesan upper portion of inert material mountable onto said leading edge anda second lower portion for abutting said automobile roof.
 2. The airdeflector of claim 1 wherein each pedestal includes an elongate slot forslidably receiving a respective edge of said visor.
 3. The air deflectorof claim 2 wherein said slot includes means for reducing temperatureinduced stresses in said visor comprising suitably dimensioning saidslot to accommodate expansion and contraction of the visor edgetherewith in.
 4. The air deflector of claim 1 wherein said pedestalcomprises a base member having a recessed lip portion for receiving saidlateral edge thereon, and means for holding said lateral edge on basemember.
 5. The air deflector of claim 4 wherein said holding meanscomprises at least two fasteners for fixing said visor to said base. 6.The air deflector of claim 4 wherein said holding means comprises a capengageable with said base member for sandwiching a visor lateral edgetherebetween.
 7. The air deflector of claim 1 wherein said upper andlower portions of said gasket are co-extruded, said upper portiondefines a channel for receiving said leading edge, and said lowerportion forms at least two flexible splayed legs for abutting said roof.8. The air deflector of claim 1 wherein said gasket is integrally formedwith one or more of said visor and said pedestals.
 9. The air deflectorof claim 1 wherein said visor comprises at least first and seconddistinct visor portions, and a middle member of suitable size mountableintermediate said visor portions for providing an interconnected visorarrangement of desired dimension for said sunroof opening.
 10. The airdeflector of claim 1 wherein said securing means comprises an elongateclip having an upper portion connectable to said pedestal and a lowerhooked portion for engaging said sunroof opening to retain said pedestalon said roof.
 11. The air deflector of claim 10 wherein said clip is ofsuitable length to allow said lower hooked portion to be slidinglyengaged with a perimeter flange of said sunroof opening to retain saidpedestal on said roof.
 12. An air deflector assembly for a sunroofopening in an automobile roof comprising: a generally elongate centralvisor having opposed lateral edges; a pedestal mountable to each of saidlateral edges to support the visor on the roof; means for securing eachpedestal to said roof to removably retain said pedestals and visoradjacent said sunroof opening; and flexible gaskets for location beneatheach of said pedestals and a leading edge of said visor, wherein abarrier strip of inert material is located intermediate said visorleading edge and respective gasket.
 13. An air deflector assembly for asunroof opening in an automobile roof comprising: a generally elongatecentral visor having opposed lateral edges; a pedestal mountable to eachof said lateral edges to support the visor on the roof; and means forsecuring each pedestal to said roof to removably retain said pedestalsand visor adjacent said sunroof opening, wherein said securing meansincludes a bracket having a lower hooked portion for engaging saidsunroof opening, and a barbed portion above said hooked portion forslidably mating in a plurality of positions with a grooved portion onsaid pedestal which serves to provide a universal fit with said sunroofopening.
 14. The air deflector of claim 13 wherein said grooved portioncomprises a generally elongate groove having a plurality of teeththerealong, and said barbed portion comprises a barb protruding fromsaid bracket for slidably registering with said teeth in said groove.15. The air deflector of claim 14 wherein at least two barbs areprovided on said bracket in a spaced relationship for engagingrespective grooves on said pedestal, and said securing means furtherincludes a fastener for securing said bracket in a desired position tosaid pedestal to retain said pedestal on said roof.